All hearings held pursuant to the provisions of the Liquor Control Act [60-3A-1 NMSA 1978] shall be conducted by the director or a hearing officer appointed by the director and shall be held in the county in which the licensed premises that are the subject matter of the hearing are located. All such hearings shall be open to the public.
History: Laws 1981, ch. 39, § 98; 1987, c. 255, § 1; 1993, ch. 68, § 12.
ANNOTATIONSThe 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, rewrote the first sentence.
Liquor control hearing officer presides only at hearings that result from formal charges looking toward suspension or revocation of an existing license. Other hearings under the liquor laws, such as hearings on whether a new license should be issued in a given locality or whether an existing license should be transferred to a new location, need not be heard by a liquor control hearing officer, but can be heard by the chief of the division of liquor control (now director of alcohol and gaming division). 1963 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 63-103.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 45 Am. Jur. 2d Intoxicating Liquors § 206.
Right to hearing before revocation or suspension of liquor license, 35 A.L.R.2d 1067.
48 C.J.S. Intoxicating Liquors § 177.